What's on

NOW & THEN HERE & THERE 12.10-29.10.2017
a solo exhibition of work by Janie Rayne - Photographer
in collaboration with Roy Snell - Printmaker
Opening Night 12.10, 6.30-9.00pm

How to put a meaningful body of work together in my 80th year when so much has happened in my life time and so much is happening today? So, I have picked a few snippets of images I have captured over the years which gave me joy. From a puddle in a Paris Street, a view through a broken window, some children playing by a lake to a sunset, a Seagull, some Geese or a sunbeam in a forest. I hope they will give some joy to someone else too. I get such a thrill out of what I see and I love to capture moments to share with others.

I was so lucky to have been given a box brownie camera when I was very young - maybe ten or twelve years old. I was never happier than taking pictures and writing poems. Then my lucky star led me to a career in the fashion world of New York, Rome, Paris and London. I worked with some of the world's top Photographer's - Louis Faurer, Milton Green, Bert Stern, Melvin Sokolsky, Brian Duffy and Hiro to name but a few. I learnt so much from them which served me well when I took up professional photography in 1999. I was fortunate enough to be given a spread in Harper's Bazaar by the great Diana Vreeland, the editor at the time, then later at Vogue. This led to a contract with Eileen Ford in New York. Following my Lucky star, I was led into a career on the stage, television and film as an actress, singer and dancer. Then on to Producing theatre, and finally to photography.

There is not much I haven't seen or experienced, from a childhood where I wanted for nothing surrounded by glorious Yorkshire countryside and animals, through war and hardship, death and riots, prison and friends dying, happy times, sad times, lonely times and sick times. But always I saw the beauty and the positive and learnt more from the failures and hardship than ever from the successes and easy times, although I did enjoy them!

I hope these few images will capture a tiny bit of what I have seen and make a few people smile
Thank you.
Janie Rayne 22.09.17